Saturday, May 24, 2003
Why do people in Japan have a thing about dressing their pets?
Ringtones: Gross & Yucky drive the business
Fart ringtones are big with American teens, according to a Reuters article quoting Cindy Lundin Mesaros, a spokeswoman for Faith Inc.'s 4295.T Modtones unit, a ringtone provider for Verizon Wireless VZ.N . "It's pretty impressive, considering there was no promotion and no press," she said. "You stick it underneath someone's chair and dial your own number and it's a remote-controlled whoopie cushion."
Blairgate: Times suspends Rick Bragg
Department of 'Dateline Integrity:' Columbia Journalism Review published a web exclusive story on Friday, detailing how The New York Times has placed Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Rick Bragg on a two-week leave because of impropriety in reporting a piece published last June. The story has been widely picked up in the news.
According to Howard Kunz of the Washington Post, an NY Times editor's note Friday said that Bragg had only briefly visited the Florida town of Apalachicola, from which he filed a story last June, and that most of the reporting had been done by a stringer. That freelance reporter, J. Wes Yoder, an intern, should have shared a byline with Bragg, the paper said.
According to the Daily News, Yoder, 23, spent four days in and around Apalachicola, on Florida's northern gulf coast, did much of the reporting and sat with his notes alongside Bragg when the staffer wrote the piece.
"I had offered to volunteer for Rick for the summer because I wanted to learn from him," said Yoder, who has since become a staff writer for The Anniston Star, an Alabama paper where Bragg once worked. Yoder said Bragg paid him directly for his work over three months, calling it an invaluable experience.
Gordon Gray, author of the CJR piece, writes:
While many national correspondents at the Times rely heavily on stringers, the paper’s policy on "dateline integrity" is that the bylined writer must "provide the bulk of the information, in the form of copy or, when necessary, of notes used faithfully in a rewrite." Had Yoder been given at least partial credit, it seems, Bragg’s piece might not have had any "dateline integrity" issues. The Times national desk policy of not giving bylines to stringers or freelancers is one of the areas a new committee — headed by assistant managing editor Allan M. Siegal and formed in the wake of the Jayson Blair plagiarism and fabrication debacle to rethink newsroom policies — will review. "It would have been nice for J. Wes to share a byline, or at least a tagline, but that’s not the policy," Bragg said. "I don’t make the policies."
Why am I covering this? Rick Bragg is one of the best "local color" writers in the country, if not the world. His memoirs and essays are outstanding.
It would be a shame if the Times trying to police itself slapped his hand too hard in the process.
According to Howard Kunz of the Washington Post, an NY Times editor's note Friday said that Bragg had only briefly visited the Florida town of Apalachicola, from which he filed a story last June, and that most of the reporting had been done by a stringer. That freelance reporter, J. Wes Yoder, an intern, should have shared a byline with Bragg, the paper said.
According to the Daily News, Yoder, 23, spent four days in and around Apalachicola, on Florida's northern gulf coast, did much of the reporting and sat with his notes alongside Bragg when the staffer wrote the piece.
"I had offered to volunteer for Rick for the summer because I wanted to learn from him," said Yoder, who has since become a staff writer for The Anniston Star, an Alabama paper where Bragg once worked. Yoder said Bragg paid him directly for his work over three months, calling it an invaluable experience.
Gordon Gray, author of the CJR piece, writes:
While many national correspondents at the Times rely heavily on stringers, the paper’s policy on "dateline integrity" is that the bylined writer must "provide the bulk of the information, in the form of copy or, when necessary, of notes used faithfully in a rewrite." Had Yoder been given at least partial credit, it seems, Bragg’s piece might not have had any "dateline integrity" issues. The Times national desk policy of not giving bylines to stringers or freelancers is one of the areas a new committee — headed by assistant managing editor Allan M. Siegal and formed in the wake of the Jayson Blair plagiarism and fabrication debacle to rethink newsroom policies — will review. "It would have been nice for J. Wes to share a byline, or at least a tagline, but that’s not the policy," Bragg said. "I don’t make the policies."
Why am I covering this? Rick Bragg is one of the best "local color" writers in the country, if not the world. His memoirs and essays are outstanding.
It would be a shame if the Times trying to police itself slapped his hand too hard in the process.
Friday, May 23, 2003
Despite all my rage...
Got a fan letter today that made me wonder whether just anyone can get a university email address:
Subj: Read your blog...
Date: 5/23/03 5:37:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: XXXXX@wisc.edu
To: smernit@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)
Hi, Susan. I was curious to see who was linking to IP-relay.com, and I came
across this entry in your blog:
"Does anyone besides the evil sixteen
year old boys I am related to use IP-relay? Not to talk to deaf people, but
to embarass the IP operator with the outrageous comments they are forced to
repeat?"
Thanks for making my job harder, you fucking bitch.
Love,
--XXX
My fantasy is that this person needs reading glasses, or maybe classes in anger management, or perhaps both. Oh, no, I forgot, it's always best to shoot the messenger. Thanks, girlfriend, you have a real nice day, too.
Subj: Read your blog...
Date: 5/23/03 5:37:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: XXXXX@wisc.edu
To: smernit@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)
Hi, Susan. I was curious to see who was linking to IP-relay.com, and I came
across this entry in your blog:
"
year old boys I am related to use IP-relay? Not to talk to deaf people, but
to embarass the IP operator with the outrageous comments they are forced to
repeat?"
Thanks for making my job harder, you fucking bitch.
Love,
--XXX
My fantasy is that this person needs reading glasses, or maybe classes in anger management, or perhaps both. Oh, no, I forgot, it's always best to shoot the messenger. Thanks, girlfriend, you have a real nice day, too.
Kazaa: Can't stop P2P
What does it say about me if I confess I've never used Kazaa--too nervous about worms and viruses?
My son the teenager has a computer loaded with music he's used Kazaa to pull off the net, and I have a great time hanging out with him listening to to Squarepusher, Infected Mushroom, and remixes of 90's house.
Neverthless, Kazaa says that users have downloaded more than 230 million copies of their file-sharing program.
According to the San Jose Merc, "In just over a year, the software used to download free music over the Internet has surpassed all other applications distributed through CNet's Download.com site -- including ICQ, the predecessor to AOL's Instant Messenger, and WinZip, the software utility used to open compressed files."
My son the teenager has a computer loaded with music he's used Kazaa to pull off the net, and I have a great time hanging out with him listening to to Squarepusher, Infected Mushroom, and remixes of 90's house.
Neverthless, Kazaa says that users have downloaded more than 230 million copies of their file-sharing program.
According to the San Jose Merc, "In just over a year, the software used to download free music over the Internet has surpassed all other applications distributed through CNet's Download.com site -- including ICQ, the predecessor to AOL's Instant Messenger, and WinZip, the software utility used to open compressed files."
Lucy Woodward: Fame is the AOL Homepage
Musician Lucy Woodward was one of AOL Music's First Look artists, and it's certainly paid off. In the past 3 years, AOL music has become an industry force, driving record sales and higlighting artists before MTV. Here's Lucy's quote on how normal her life is:
In New York, a lot of people like to remain anonymous. They go there and they just kind of look down on the street all the time, and kind of keep their head down. So in New York, my hometown, I don’t even get that much recognition. Travelling other places, I act normal, and I kind of forget sometimes that, oh, yeah my picture is in the store, or I’m on the AOL homepage."
More on the evolving power of AOL Music here.
In New York, a lot of people like to remain anonymous. They go there and they just kind of look down on the street all the time, and kind of keep their head down. So in New York, my hometown, I don’t even get that much recognition. Travelling other places, I act normal, and I kind of forget sometimes that, oh, yeah my picture is in the store, or I’m on the AOL homepage."
More on the evolving power of AOL Music here.
Gossip: Britney sweated in this
Britney Spears is putting her old costumes up for sale for a good cause, the Post reports today. 160 of Brit's tight, tiny duds--including the scanty slave-girl outfit she wore on the Slave 4U video--are going on the block at gottahaveit.com
Now that Brit's browner, bigger, and older, she's past all this trashy pop-start stuff, no doubt. She says "“My mom wants me to get rid of all the major costumes, cause she doesn't want me walking around in that.”
More Goggle news on this here.
Now that Brit's browner, bigger, and older, she's past all this trashy pop-start stuff, no doubt. She says "“My mom wants me to get rid of all the major costumes, cause she doesn't want me walking around in that.”
More Goggle news on this here.
Thursday, May 22, 2003
Gothamist does Jayson, too
Jen Chung and pals deconstruct the J-man.
Fight Club: Disgraced Journalists
Eric Gillen of Black Table offers show and tell on America's disgraced journalists. Says Gillin:
A closer look at the picture shows that charges of plagiarism, fraud and misconduct don't always spell instant career death. In fact, some journalists have received little more than a soft rap on the knuckles while others, of course, have never worked in this business again
More delicious writing about this right here.
A closer look at the picture shows that charges of plagiarism, fraud and misconduct don't always spell instant career death. In fact, some journalists have received little more than a soft rap on the knuckles while others, of course, have never worked in this business again
More delicious writing about this right here.
Jayson in the NY Observer
Jayson tells the NY Observer:
"I was young at The New York Times. ...I was black at The New York Times, which is something that hurts you as much as it helps you. I certainly have health problems, which probably led to me having to kill Jayson Blair, the journalist. I was either going to kill myself or I was going to kill the journalist persona."
More stories about Jayson Blair coillected at Google News.
"I was young at The New York Times. ...I was black at The New York Times, which is something that hurts you as much as it helps you. I certainly have health problems, which probably led to me having to kill Jayson Blair, the journalist. I was either going to kill myself or I was going to kill the journalist persona."
More stories about Jayson Blair coillected at Google News.
Jayson Blair: The Pix
Want candids of Jayson Blair? Times photo Ed Keating went over to his Brooklyn home and shot candids last Friday, according to Editor & Publisher. The photos first appeared in Newsweek, but for a sum, they can be yours as well (if you're a media outlet, of course.)
Jayson, Jayson, Jayson, you're on your way to being the Tammy Faye Baker of the the new millenium. Don't be shuffling and scraping, man, you worked hard and you screwed up--live with it.
Jayson, Jayson, Jayson, you're on your way to being the Tammy Faye Baker of the the new millenium. Don't be shuffling and scraping, man, you worked hard and you screwed up--live with it.
Great article by Jimmy Guterman!
Return of the Dotcom Media Flameouts
A new version of the Wall Street Journal Online takes its cue from some unlikely sources.
By Jimmy Guterman, May 21, 2003
Remember dotcom journalism and how it was going to change everything? Salon.com was supposed to make sense as a Nasdaq-listed public company? After numerous downgradings, it now trades over the counter for a nickel a share. TheStreet.com was supposed to render the Wall Street Journal irrelevant? Well, the editor of TheStreet.com is back at the Journal. Inside.com was supposed to render existing media journalism irrelevant? Now the Wall Street Journal Online has launched a promising service that successfully does some of what Inside set out to do.
That last development is the most interesting, and it shows how a few of the dotcom journalism models worth preserving are being incorporated into more venerable media ventures. As with WSJ.com's Health Edition, launched last year, the front page of its month-old online Media & Marketing Edition includes annotated headlines, links to related stories by WSJ-affiliated sources such as Barron's and the Dow Jones Newswire, and shortcuts to subject-specific areas on associated sites. For those wanting a quick overview of the day's media and marketing news, along with links to more detailed information, it's quite useful.
Full story here.
A new version of the Wall Street Journal Online takes its cue from some unlikely sources.
By Jimmy Guterman, May 21, 2003
Remember dotcom journalism and how it was going to change everything? Salon.com was supposed to make sense as a Nasdaq-listed public company? After numerous downgradings, it now trades over the counter for a nickel a share. TheStreet.com was supposed to render the Wall Street Journal irrelevant? Well, the editor of TheStreet.com is back at the Journal. Inside.com was supposed to render existing media journalism irrelevant? Now the Wall Street Journal Online has launched a promising service that successfully does some of what Inside set out to do.
That last development is the most interesting, and it shows how a few of the dotcom journalism models worth preserving are being incorporated into more venerable media ventures. As with WSJ.com's Health Edition, launched last year, the front page of its month-old online Media & Marketing Edition includes annotated headlines, links to related stories by WSJ-affiliated sources such as Barron's and the Dow Jones Newswire, and shortcuts to subject-specific areas on associated sites. For those wanting a quick overview of the day's media and marketing news, along with links to more detailed information, it's quite useful.
Full story here.
AOL 9.0: More here; software released.
Flying: No Terrorists please, but pigs are okay
According to a recent ananova.com story, the new U S Department of Transportation regulations allow pigs, horses, and other animals on board a plane so long as they can fit into the luxury cabin of a Boeing 777. The new guidelines have been introduced so all "service animals" - not just guide dogs for the blind - can be transported with their owners.
More here.
More here.
Wednesday, May 21, 2003
Writing: I used to write poetry--here's one
YIDDISH
At the first class we learn to say
Di bobe zet der bon,
the grandmother sees the train.
By the end of the course
we will speak 1,000 basic words,
be able to read the Forverts
and hear the different gutterals
in Polish and Russian Yiddish.
Di bobe zet der bon,
are our first five words:
The grandmother sees the train pass through her village.
The grandmother sees the train,
her children are on it.
The grandmother sees the train come to take her away.
She is the only one left who speaks Yiddish.
More of this poem here.
At the first class we learn to say
Di bobe zet der bon,
the grandmother sees the train.
By the end of the course
we will speak 1,000 basic words,
be able to read the Forverts
and hear the different gutterals
in Polish and Russian Yiddish.
Di bobe zet der bon,
are our first five words:
The grandmother sees the train pass through her village.
The grandmother sees the train,
her children are on it.
The grandmother sees the train come to take her away.
She is the only one left who speaks Yiddish.
More of this poem here.
AOL Client 9: Feels like CitySearch
AOL Client 9: Feels like CitySearch
As most of you know, AOL upgrades and releases a new client once a year. Last October, it was AOL 8.0, which offered much improved mail functionality, a new look and feel on the Welcome Screen, and a much strong integration of tools such as You've Got Pictures, Radio and the IM/Buddy tools such as Expressions.
AOL does updates to its clients throughout the year as well, (viz the new Broadband client release this April), but the big thing is the annual "new" client.
So AOL 9.0 is scheduled for sometime this Fall, and pictures and designs are starting to leak across the web as beat testing rolls out.
There's a whole set of screen shots at Neowin.
Some comments on 9.0 changes as represented by these screens:
1) Information management--New emphasis on suitcase and my stuff: Two items on the very top suggest AOL is going to integrate more with desktop tools and information management--a File command on far left, and as little suitcase icon at far right.
2) Downplaying channel content--No more channel bar on Welcome Screen. Does anyone go to all that content buried in the bar? AOLers have long discussed whether the real estate and the click-through for the left nav mar are merited--guess the answer is in these 9.0 designs.
3) Continued broadband strip below for those who don't have broadband client--that hasn't changed much.
4) AOL Dashboard replacing channel strip--Like the current AOL IM/Mail tool, this object can open and close, collapsing on command. What does it do? Weather, money, radio search and dictionary reference are the highlights.
5) Refreshing tabs and expanded views. Right now the Welcome Screen has little buttons you click to see new current features and news. This new design allows you to use a tab to refresh the view. Tabs suggested a focus on younger audience/premium content/key demographic groups. A tabbed series right down by the promos offers Music Sports Teen People(this is the teen channel now) Customize. Note that all these categories appeal to the 13-25 demographic, and that they are all key categories to offer upsells in the form of premium services. Further, the Customize tab suggests that AOL will be able to go beyond the current capability it has in 8.0 to offer users the chance to select one of 8 screens and allow users to switch some components in and out--adding some of the capabilities of My AOL and My Netscape to the main screen. (Yes, it's like RSS in a way).
Finally, doesn't the whole thing look a lot like Citysearch? Lots of commerce and transaction services, plus community?
As most of you know, AOL upgrades and releases a new client once a year. Last October, it was AOL 8.0, which offered much improved mail functionality, a new look and feel on the Welcome Screen, and a much strong integration of tools such as You've Got Pictures, Radio and the IM/Buddy tools such as Expressions.
AOL does updates to its clients throughout the year as well, (viz the new Broadband client release this April), but the big thing is the annual "new" client.
So AOL 9.0 is scheduled for sometime this Fall, and pictures and designs are starting to leak across the web as beat testing rolls out.
There's a whole set of screen shots at Neowin.
Some comments on 9.0 changes as represented by these screens:
1) Information management--New emphasis on suitcase and my stuff: Two items on the very top suggest AOL is going to integrate more with desktop tools and information management--a File command on far left, and as little suitcase icon at far right.
2) Downplaying channel content--No more channel bar on Welcome Screen. Does anyone go to all that content buried in the bar? AOLers have long discussed whether the real estate and the click-through for the left nav mar are merited--guess the answer is in these 9.0 designs.
3) Continued broadband strip below for those who don't have broadband client--that hasn't changed much.
4) AOL Dashboard replacing channel strip--Like the current AOL IM/Mail tool, this object can open and close, collapsing on command. What does it do? Weather, money, radio search and dictionary reference are the highlights.
5) Refreshing tabs and expanded views. Right now the Welcome Screen has little buttons you click to see new current features and news. This new design allows you to use a tab to refresh the view. Tabs suggested a focus on younger audience/premium content/key demographic groups. A tabbed series right down by the promos offers Music Sports Teen People(this is the teen channel now) Customize. Note that all these categories appeal to the 13-25 demographic, and that they are all key categories to offer upsells in the form of premium services. Further, the Customize tab suggests that AOL will be able to go beyond the current capability it has in 8.0 to offer users the chance to select one of 8 screens and allow users to switch some components in and out--adding some of the capabilities of My AOL and My Netscape to the main screen. (Yes, it's like RSS in a way).
Finally, doesn't the whole thing look a lot like Citysearch? Lots of commerce and transaction services, plus community?
Tuesday, May 20, 2003
Poetry from Jayson Blair's student website
Life to go after Parade?
Stories ran yesterday about Time Inc developing Life, the defunct magazine, into a photo-driven newspaper insert that could compete with Parade, the Advance Publications newspaper insert/magazine., and with USA Today's insert, owned by Gannett. Time Inc is reportedly testing the product with newspaper owners to gauge interest before deciding to move ahead.
If they do move ahead, will the web site be AOL-only?
(Full disclosure: I ran the new media business at Parade before I moved to Netscape/AOL)
If they do move ahead, will the web site be AOL-only?
(Full disclosure: I ran the new media business at Parade before I moved to Netscape/AOL)
3 Month Anniversary! Blogalicious Habit
It's 3 months since I started blogging. Only three months, but how life has changed:
1) Have started a consulting company, 5ive, with four amazing guys.
2) Have consulting clients, and am enjoying working with them
3) Am working with K-12 education and blogging, two areas I am passionate about
4) Am doing more work with non-profits, another goal post leaving AOL
5) Have K-12 related business idea I am developing and it's going well.
6) Feel like my life is getting a new shape--on two coasts, no less.
1) Have started a consulting company, 5ive, with four amazing guys.
2) Have consulting clients, and am enjoying working with them
3) Am working with K-12 education and blogging, two areas I am passionate about
4) Am doing more work with non-profits, another goal post leaving AOL
5) Have K-12 related business idea I am developing and it's going well.
6) Feel like my life is getting a new shape--on two coasts, no less.
Microsoft & AOL Bloggers
Mary Foley of Microsoft Watch says the evil empire has blogging on the brain. She's pulled together a list of all the really smart 'softies with Blogs.
Further she points out how Microsoft's forthcoming FrontPage 2003 product can be used as a front-end blogging tool, as can InfoPath, how Microsoft's OneNote note-taking application (with its one-button "publish to Web" feature) can be a blog builder, and avid interest in building .Net blog plugins and tools.
Has anyone pulled together a list of AOLers with blogs? Given that Dave Winer says AOL has 400 techies programming blog software (so not true!), you'd think there'd be lots of bloggers, eh? The only AOL bloggers I am aware of who are actively blogging are Erin Malone, and Chris Johnson, though there are surely more. Netscaper Andrew Woolridge is into blogging in a big way, but it's not connected to his day job.
Further she points out how Microsoft's forthcoming FrontPage 2003 product can be used as a front-end blogging tool, as can InfoPath, how Microsoft's OneNote note-taking application (with its one-button "publish to Web" feature) can be a blog builder, and avid interest in building .Net blog plugins and tools.
Has anyone pulled together a list of AOLers with blogs? Given that Dave Winer says AOL has 400 techies programming blog software (so not true!), you'd think there'd be lots of bloggers, eh? The only AOL bloggers I am aware of who are actively blogging are Erin Malone, and Chris Johnson, though there are surely more. Netscaper Andrew Woolridge is into blogging in a big way, but it's not connected to his day job.
Big Biz & Innovation Summit?
Just got the weekly AlwaysOn Rap email from Tony Perkins and was a little bemused to see that AOL's Jon Miller is going to speak at his Stanford event. July 15-17th. Perkins says this adds "even more momenteum to the event."
Is it possible to have an Innovation Summit where a focal point is being able to talk to and run up against thje CEOs of really big, mature companies, people who might be able to give you a job, or throw your company some significant business?
Can big companies be innovative?
If the point is to get a lot of really smart people into a room and have them talk about innovation, I get that. Jon Miller is really smart and he's helped move AOL along from the mess it was in two years ago. There is no question it is now in a smaller mess than it was then.
But I wonder how much the " heavy weights all poised to be part of the always-on revolution" really understand innovation...or am I missing the point here?
Is it possible to have an Innovation Summit where a focal point is being able to talk to and run up against thje CEOs of really big, mature companies, people who might be able to give you a job, or throw your company some significant business?
Can big companies be innovative?
If the point is to get a lot of really smart people into a room and have them talk about innovation, I get that. Jon Miller is really smart and he's helped move AOL along from the mess it was in two years ago. There is no question it is now in a smaller mess than it was then.
But I wonder how much the " heavy weights all poised to be part of the always-on revolution" really understand innovation...or am I missing the point here?
Monday, May 19, 2003
Oldies and still goodies
Judith Donath's The Sociable Web and Mark Granovetter's The Strength of Weak Ties" were both big influences when I read themin the 90s. Corante is picking them both up...good stuff.
Pet your roach, honey
Reuters says that Australians are keeping giant roaches as pets. They're not keeping those nasty little German roaches(brown), or the big fisty Palmetto bugs, nah, it's the down under premiumn pests that have pet cachet: the giant burrowing cockroach and the rhinoceros cockroach both native to Australia, and found in the warm, northeastern state of Queensland.
Accordng to Reuters, "These gigantic cockroaches, officially called Macropanesthia Rhinoceros, grow as big as the palm of a hand, measuring about three inches and weighing just over an ounce. They are also known to live up to 10 years. "
Hmmn....maybe my cat would like one as a pet.
(Via Amish Tech Support)
Accordng to Reuters, "These gigantic cockroaches, officially called Macropanesthia Rhinoceros, grow as big as the palm of a hand, measuring about three inches and weighing just over an ounce. They are also known to live up to 10 years. "
Hmmn....maybe my cat would like one as a pet.
(Via Amish Tech Support)
AOL Broadband: Will growth slow?
Department of Let's pray this ain't true:
The number of people with high-speed Internet connections to their homes increased 50 percent in the 12 months, but it looks like conversion to high-speed access is slowing down. Stories here.
The number of people with high-speed Internet connections to their homes increased 50 percent in the 12 months, but it looks like conversion to high-speed access is slowing down. Stories here.
Dirt: But Jayson Blair was a nice guy!
The Jayson Blair had a problem he was struggling with and he never acted like an entitled twit so I feel bad for him stories are leaking out now, along with info about his supposed coke and alcohol abuse and treatment.
A piece in the Morning news about how nice he was to the writer.
Wash Post: I met Jayson Blair ten years ago...
Cuppa Tea: He was a nice guy
This guy should NOT profit financially from what he did!--But he probably will.
A piece in the Morning news about how nice he was to the writer.
Wash Post: I met Jayson Blair ten years ago...
Cuppa Tea: He was a nice guy
This guy should NOT profit financially from what he did!--But he probably will.
Sunday, May 18, 2003
Dave Winer: If you want to be in Google, You gotta be on the Web
Dave Winer, former Netscape engineer and developer of RSS, sometimes seems as powerful and as feared as Aunty Entity, the Tina Turner character ruling the Thunderdome, but he knows his stuff.
In an entry in his blog today, Winer points out how pages that are locked behind paid databases--like those published by the NY Times--get less page views than those out free on the web. Conclusion: if you want to show up in Google's search results, make your pages reachable by Google.
Winer: "Weblogs, on the other hand, are not only on the Web, but beautifully organized for search and retrieval. Google is just indexing what's on the Web. Most print pubs aren't there...There's basically a very simple rule. If you want to be in Google, you gotta be on the Web. "
In an entry in his blog today, Winer points out how pages that are locked behind paid databases--like those published by the NY Times--get less page views than those out free on the web. Conclusion: if you want to show up in Google's search results, make your pages reachable by Google.
Winer: "Weblogs, on the other hand, are not only on the Web, but beautifully organized for search and retrieval. Google is just indexing what's on the Web. Most print pubs aren't there...There's basically a very simple rule. If you want to be in Google, you gotta be on the Web. "
Art: George Ahgupuk & Rockwell Kent
One of my favorite artists from the 1930s is Rockwell Kent, the painter, illustrator, and designer. Kent combined a passion for art with a love of the outdoors, and did much of his finest work camped out on expeditions to Alaska, Greenland, and other remote & rustic areas. This afternoon, up in Hastings on Hudson, I bought a copy of Greenland, Kent's book about his sojourn there.
I also learned that a new art exhibit of Eskimo drawings opens this week in a summer exhibit at the Anchorage Museum of Art and History, and that one of the featured artists is by George Aden Ahgupuk,. Apgupuk is an Alaskan Inupiat artist whose mentor was Rockwell Kent, who discovered him on a trip to Alaska.
According to Russell Hartman and Dinah Houghtaling, writing on Native Alaskan Graphic Arts: Founding Artists , in 1936, American artist Rockwell Kent purchased some of Ahgupuk's drawings while on a trip to Alaska. Although the two artists did not personally meet, Kent proclaimed Ahgupuk a great artist and arranged for his induction into the American Artists Group. Kent also propelled Time Magazine and The New York Times to write feature articles about him, which led to book illustration assignments.
Kent, who feel out of favor in the 50's for his socialistic beliefs and curmudgeonly views about "modern" art (ie, he HATED abstractionism). An easy way to see why I like his so much is is read one of his books or look at some of his prints, woodcuts and paintings. Here are a few, all available for sale from the Aaron Gallery:
The most complete collection of Kent's work is in Plattsburgh, New York at the Art Museum at SUNY Plattsburgh. Good links to his work are at Artcyclopedia the Smithsonian Magazine.m and an Alaskan department of education page about his book Wilderness, here.
Here's a pix of the artist from the 30s--I was surprised at how contemporary it appears.
\
I also learned that a new art exhibit of Eskimo drawings opens this week in a summer exhibit at the Anchorage Museum of Art and History, and that one of the featured artists is by George Aden Ahgupuk,. Apgupuk is an Alaskan Inupiat artist whose mentor was Rockwell Kent, who discovered him on a trip to Alaska.
According to Russell Hartman and Dinah Houghtaling, writing on Native Alaskan Graphic Arts: Founding Artists , in 1936, American artist Rockwell Kent purchased some of Ahgupuk's drawings while on a trip to Alaska. Although the two artists did not personally meet, Kent proclaimed Ahgupuk a great artist and arranged for his induction into the American Artists Group. Kent also propelled Time Magazine and The New York Times to write feature articles about him, which led to book illustration assignments.
Kent, who feel out of favor in the 50's for his socialistic beliefs and curmudgeonly views about "modern" art (ie, he HATED abstractionism). An easy way to see why I like his so much is is read one of his books or look at some of his prints, woodcuts and paintings. Here are a few, all available for sale from the Aaron Gallery:
The most complete collection of Kent's work is in Plattsburgh, New York at the Art Museum at SUNY Plattsburgh. Good links to his work are at Artcyclopedia the Smithsonian Magazine.m and an Alaskan department of education page about his book Wilderness, here.
Here's a pix of the artist from the 30s--I was surprised at how contemporary it appears.
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